Homeowner Forum / Construction / February 2008

Tracked skid steers are far better than wheeled ones.  Agreed?
http://www.myequipment.ca

More info at http://Muvy.org

Has anyone come across this.  I need to vent out my wetroom extrator fan
that is cieling mounted through the roof.  I have a Redland ministonewols
vent out tilethat has a 83mm spigot.  However the fan I have has a 150mm
requirment.  There is not a redland one available.  So I ...

I'm remodelling the kitchen in my condo and would like to rotate the
electrical panel (currently in the kitchen) so that access to the
panel is from the other side of the wall.  The panel would stay in the
same location, all that's changing is the direction from which it is

I have a garage plan that calls for a monolithic slab  with a 2" pitch
toward the garage door.  It looks like the walls are bolted  directly to the
slab.  My  question is, wouldn't that make the whole frame out of level?
How is this normally handled?  It is a detatched garage.

I have two holes in lower foundation wall that I need to plug. The
holes were originally going to be for utilities but they were
relocated during construction so they are no longer needed. The holes
have 2-1/2 pvc which is embedded in the concrete which is 10" thick. I

Was wondering what others have done to put up privacy
barriers between neighboring homes.
I'm on a corner lot in a "typical" suburban sub division.
The lot is about a 200' x 100' size. There is a house to

Can I hook up a cheap room thermostat that you get at Lowes to a heat
lamp.   Want to use it in a dog house.   I was told that would not
work.
Any advice?

I've got to sister five 17' long ceiling joists, due to removing a
bearing wall.  I've done the engineering, and given the existing roof
construction, I've got two options that work:
1) Use double 2x6 select struct at 16" o.c.  

Both levels of  ICF walls are up. Sub floor is in next step is the
roof.
I intend to ring the top of the ICF walls with a 6x12 timber to
transistion to wood. I have a front and rear span of 22 ft that will

Hey all,
I'm thinking of taking the plunge on a decent dovetail jig. It looks
like the PC Omnijig has all the bells and whistles to make even me look
good. Now the 24 inch version has been slated for release several times

Bob,
Could you expand on this comment, please?
"personally I think some code allowances for holes in joist are a
little too generous."

I am looking at buying a house that is built on pilings at the beach.
It is a block from the ocean, built in 1994.  Is there any way to have
the pilings inspected to make sure they will be good for awhile?
The pilings continue into the house, and there are some 0.5inch splits

It is time to replace the windows along the front of my house.  One room I
use as an office and the other as a spare bedroom.  Alas, the windows, large
6ft wide and 5ft high, are mounted 22" off the floors, so anything I put in
front of them has to be moved away from the walls--a ...

Can someone tell me what is the correct way to reinforce some timber
floor joists, that have been drilled off limits for services, as
follows:
Joists are H8.6" x T1.8"